What is DACA and who qualified? What you need to know.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the Trump administration's appeal of a DACA ruling. The ruling requires the government to keep the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program going.
USA Today

Six-year-old Sophie Cruz (left) speaks during a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court next to her father Raul Cruz and supporter Jose Antonio Vargas (far right) on April 18, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of United States v. Texas, which is challenging President Obama's 2014 executive actions on immigration - the Deferred Action for Children Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of American and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) programs.(Photo: Alex Wong, Getty Images)

In Sept. 2017, President Donald Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — an immigration program designed during the Obama administration to protect undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States as children.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it won't immediately take up President Donald Trump's appeal of a lower-court opinion that keeps the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programs in place for now.

Protesters hold up signs during a rally supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, outside of the White House in Washington, on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017.(Photo: Jose Luis Magana, AP)

What is DACA?

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

On June 15, 2012, President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced those who came to the United States as children and met several guidelines could request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal.

This also provided a work permit and a way for applicants to receive a driver's license.

Deferred action is used as prosecutorial discretion to defer deportation of an individual for a certain period of time.

Who qualified for DACA?

To request DACA, applicants must have been under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012. Applicants had to be at least 15 years or older to request DACA.

Applicants who qualified for DACA came to the United States before the age of 16.

Applicants had to show proof of having continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, up to the present time.

Applicants must have been physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making the request for consideration of deferred action with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Applicants must not have had lawful status on June 15, 2012;

Applicants had to show proof of having been enrolled in school, having graduated or having obtained a certificate of completion from high school, having obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States.

Applicants had show proof of never having been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more other misdemeanors, and that they do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.